Transport

1st June 1950 - The world's first passenger helicopter service left Liverpool bound for Cardiff via Wrexham. Operated by British European Airways, the fare was £5 10s return and the journey took two hours 20 minutes, with a brief touchdown at Wrexham. Unfortunately the route did not prove a success and it was abandoned within a year, BEA's prediciton of helicopter services being the future of air travel not coming to pass.

Politics

14th June 1985 - Liverpool City Council's ruling Militant Labour group set itself on a collision course with the Conservative government when it set an illegal budget. The Daily Post reported that leader John Hamilton had told the council chamber "If we go down and are defeated in legal terms, in terms of decent humanity we will win. We talk in a cool language of figures and statistics for what is required for the city at the end of the day these cold statistics are human life. We say we need this money to regenerate this area, to provide jobs and services".

Tragedy

22nd June 1960 - Eleven people were killed when a fire ravaged through Henderson's department store on the corner of Church Street and Whitechapel. The following days Daily Post reported "The scene in Church Street resembled the worst days of the blitz, with smoke belching from the store and a tangled jungle of hoses lying in the road. At the height of the fire flames leaped sixty feet across Williamson Street. A vast, lowering pall of black smoke blotted the city centre. While silent crowds watched from surrounding streets stretcher after stretcher, each containing a charred body, was swung from the store and lowered to the street.”

Environment

29th june 1898 - Residents and workers in Liverpool city centre were given some much needed green space when St John's Gardens, to the rear of St George's Hall, opened on the site of the former St John's Church. The church was demolished to make way for the gardens even though congregation numbers were holding up well, with the Corporation promising to build others in the vicinity. The Liverpool Daily Courier reported the following day "The people of Liverpool are now in possession of a fine open space, offering greater opportunity for the enjoyment of the fresh air”.

The above events are covered in further detail, along with other stories for every day of the year, in The Liverpool Book Of Days, which was published in September 2012. Signed copies are available here.

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